In less than half an hour, a Toyota Prado arrived.
This Japanese car was very popular in Arizona. Although it was less safe than other trains of the same series, it had fewer problems, consumed less fuel, and was easy to maintain.
Arizona was a desert, and the roads were often flat. The Toyota Prado was very good at running and had a lot of space inside, which was very suitable for such an environment.
Owen, who had a big belly, got out of the car and shook hands with Li Du formally. His attitude was much more respectful than before. "Li, I'm very happy to receive your call. Please come to my shop to talk. Also, are you really not joking? "
Li Du smiled and waved. Godzilla exerted his strength and directly carried the safe out of the car.
Big Quinn came over and opened the safe. There were a bunch of small boxes inside, all of which were shining gems.
The color was like fire, and the light was gorgeous. It was beautiful. It was opal.
Seeing these gems, Owen was moved. "God, you did it! Did you find an opal mine? "
Li Du smiled. "I was just lucky."
Owen's shop was in Winslow. It was an old-fashioned jewelry shop. The door was made of oak and looked very old. There were a few old kerosene lamps hanging at the door.
Sophie said curiously, "We passed by here, but we thought it was an antique shop."
Owen smiled. "In fact, this used to be an antique shop. Starting from my father, our business changed from antiques to jewelry."
Li Du's taste had improved a lot. He looked at the kerosene lamps hanging under the eaves of the door and said, "They are not props, but real antiques, right?"
At the mention of the lamps, Owen smiled proudly and said, "Yes, man. I have to say, you have a good taste."
"These four chandeliers were passed down by my ancestors. They have a history of at least 200 years. They are the signboards of our shop."
Sophie said in surprise, "200 years? My God, Arizona was not part of the United States at that time. "
Owen said proudly, "When our family came to Winslow, it was still a wilderness. In fact, the whole of Arizona was a big wilderness. Gradually, this place developed."
Compared to the antique shop, the interior decoration was much more modern.
The overall layout of the shop was a bit like a maze, with layers of bulletproof glass counters. Walking inside, one could see counters on all sides.
The shop wasn't big, but the business wasn't small. There were six employees working inside.
The counters were filled with gems and ores of various colors. There was a magnesium lamp at the corner of each counter, shining on the stones. It was a beautiful sight.
Owen brought Li Du into the office. Godzilla and Big Quinn stood at both sides of the door with their hands on their abdomens, expressionless and majestic.
Seeing them, a few people who were choosing jewelry in the shop asked the salesperson, "Who is this gentleman? It looks amazing. "
The waiters looked at each other. They didn't know either.
Li Du and Sophie sat down in the office. Owen asked them what they wanted to drink.
After staying in the wilderness for two days, Li Du did not feel like drinking beverages and asked for plain water. Sophie followed him obediently and also asked for plain water.
Owen was busy greeting them, and two other appraisers in their fifties or sixties came in to appraise the gemstones.
Opal had been highly valued since its discovery in ancient Rome.
In the 1980s, when the monthly salary of Chinese people was less than 100 RMB, the price of top-grade black opal per carat had already started at 450 USD, and those with more than 10 carats were as high as 7,500 USD per carat.
Of course, this was based on the premise that it was a top-grade black opal.
In recent years, because of the relatively peaceful global situation, the value of jewelry had further increased.
In the past 10 years, on average, the value of opal had increased by about 10 times. A 50-carat raw opal stone that was sold for 50,000 USD around 2001 was now selling for about 250,000 USD, or 5,000 USD per carat.
As the value of opal continued to rise, the production of opal gradually decreased. Therefore, some fakes, such as patch opals and synthetic opals, appeared on the market. Appraisers were there for this job.
While drinking water, Li Du asked, "Are there many fake opals?"
Owen replied, "Many, but not to deceive customers. It has become a new type of jewelry material. Many people can't afford natural opals and choose to buy artificial opals because they are equally beautiful."
Appraising the authenticity of opals was very easy, much easier than appraising diamonds and rubies. Merchants would not use such things to fool customers.
Therefore, when purchasing opals, merchants would state that they were pieced opals or synthetic opals. These opals were of low value, but they did not lose the beauty of opals, which could attract many consumers.
The two appraisers were very fast. After each piece of opal was appraised, they would write an evaluation on a small card instead of just saying whether it was genuine or not.
Li Du did not know much about opals, so he took this opportunity to learn. He followed the two appraisers, constantly watching their evaluations and asking questions.
The hardness of opals was not high, comparable to that of glass. It had a glass-like luster and was a crystalline state of amorphous matter.
Appraisers used both physical and chemical methods of appraisal. Physical appraisal required a large magnifying glass.
"Look, if you magnify it, the color spots of natural opals are irregular, with flat and blurry borders. The surface has a silky appearance.
"Look at this. Through the optical display, natural opals have special optical effects. This is the phantom effect, and this is the cat's eye effect.
"The cat's eye effect is very rare. Once it appears, it proves that the value of this piece of opal is very high, and it has to be taken out for negotiation."
The appraisers not only appraised the authenticity, but also the grade of the gemstone.
There were many ways to classify the grades of opals. The most common classification was based on the color of the body and the number of color changes, such as single color, triple color, five color, seven color, and so on.
Generally speaking, the more color changes it had, the greater the intensity of the color changes, and the higher the value.
In addition, the grading also took into account other factors, such as the color hue, brightness, pattern, thickness of the color layers, flaws, and color changes. These all played an important role in the evaluation of the value of opals.
Li Du had underestimated this type of gemstone. He had never heard of it in China, so he thought it was a niche item and that it would be easy to learn the relevant knowledge.
In fact, this was not the case. He knew very little about opals, not because the gemstone was not well-known, but because it had not entered the China market.
Due to historical and cultural reasons, the people of China preferred jade and emerald, and it was difficult for other gemstones to enter the market.
However, in other places, such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and even Hong Kong, the recognition of opals was very high, and the market was relatively mature.
Even half a century ago, the high-quality black opals found in Australia would not enter the civilian market. They would be given to the British royal family, aristocrats, or sold to the top tycoons in Europe and the United States. At that time, opals were exclusively for the rich and aristocrats.
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